The downtown Madison business climate is thriving and ready for growth, according to a year-long Downtown Madison Market Analysis study published Thursday.
The study was conducted as an informational tool for current and potential Madison businesses by the UW Extension Center for Community and Economic Development with assistance from UW-Extension Dane County and downtown business and property owners.
It really is a way to help the downtown business climate identify specific opportunities and strategies to help existing businesses expand, to help us retain existing businesses and keep them successful and to help property owners in recruiting new businesses that will succeed,"" said Mary Carbine, Madison Central Business Improvement District executive director.
Susan Schmitz, director of Downtown Madison, Inc., said a large part of the study, co-funded by BID and the City of Madison, was to analyze the market of customers who come to the city.
""Everybody feels like they own a little bit of downtown,"" Schmitz said. ""Students are a huge part - they're the biggest market downtown.""
Schmitz said information about the lifestyle of visitors and recognizing that there are businesses that students want but are not currently available is an important part of the study that will be implemented in the future. She also said students have expressed a need for the kind of stuff a company like Target would have, as well as more student-friendly entertainment like music and movies in the 500 and 600 block of State Street.
Still, Schmitz said the next step is to communicate with property owners to find who would fill the void - a national corporation or a local business - and to determine if spaces on State Street can accommodate these kinds of companies.
Carbine agreed saying downtowns are more eclectic and authentic with independently owned businesses.
Carbine said the rate of growth of downtown households is growing faster than that of Dane County and the nation.
